Castle Room
The Hall of Hidden Faces
Portal I · The Castle Where Autumn Wears Masks
If this is your first time here
You have entered one of the rooms of the mysterious online quest “The Artist’s Labyrinth”. To learn the rules of the game, understand the meaning of the Hearts and begin your search for artefacts, return to the beginning of the story.
Begin the Labyrinth from the StartThey were already waiting for you
Faces are not hidden here merely to keep a secret
The doors closed without a sound. In the half-light, only black figures and white masks remained—masks in which neither compassion nor threat could be read. No one gave a name. No one asked why you had come.
The Secret Brotherhood already knew the answer. It had watched your path from the moment you entered the castle and was now deciding whether you could be trusted with the first sign of the hidden address.
The Council of the Silent
A trial without a question
They moved closer, forming a silent circle. You were offered no oath and no answer was demanded. This hall tests something else: whether a person can preserve a sign whose meaning will become clear only at the end of the journey.
Not everyone who hides a face is hiding the truth. And not every unmasked gaze can endure it.
The Secret Brotherhood’s first secret
The Heart of the Labyrinth Has Been Found
One member of the Brotherhood silently stepped forward. A sign appeared in their hands—one the castle reveals only to those who have begun the journey and have not turned away from the unknown.
The first part of the secret address has been revealed
Write down this fragment exactly as it appears. The hyphen at the end is also part of the code. This fragment must come first after the forward slash in the website address. Do not try to open the secret page yet: the remaining parts are still hidden within the Labyrinth.
You are permitted to continue
The Brotherhood has given you a sign
The light of the Heart faded as suddenly as it had appeared. The white masks became motionless once again, and the figures withdrew into the darkest part of the hall. They did not explain where the completed address would lead.
But now you know how it begins. Before you leave the hall, the Brotherhood allows you to see two more signs. The artefacts themselves are hidden beyond the castle—on the pages of paintings.
Two trials of the Secret Brotherhood
Find the artefacts and their Secret Inscriptions
Study the tiles, read the riddles and determine which painting pages conceal fragments of the Secret Code. The numbers of the artefacts remain a secret.
Remember this artefact. Its number remains a secret.
The Brotherhood’s first trial
Where are the artefact and its Secret Inscription—a fragment of the Secret Code—hidden?
Look for this artefact with two women sunbathing topless on a nudist beach. They are resting peacefully beneath the sun, unaware that beside them a dragon is guarding part of a great secret.
Find the painting that matches this description in the Gallery. The artefact and its Secret Inscription await you on the page containing its story.
Additional clue. Do not search among ordinary seascapes. The heart of this painting is neither the sea nor the shore, but two female figures sunbathing topless. Decide which thematic section of the Gallery is most likely to contain this work.
Remember this artefact. Its number remains a secret.
The Brotherhood’s second trial
Where are the artefact and its Secret Inscription—a fragment of the Secret Code—hidden?
Look for this artefact with the geishas walking through a blossoming cherry garden. Pink flowers unfold around them, while a gentle wind scatters petals across the garden.
Find the painting that matches this description in the Gallery. The artefact and its Secret Inscription await you on the page containing its story.
Additional clue. Do not search among landscapes. The painting’s central figures are women in traditional Japanese imagery, surrounded by blossoming cherry trees. Decide which thematic section of the Gallery might contain such works.
Your journey continues
The Secret Brotherhood does not say farewell
You have received the beginning of the secret address and two clues, but the Hall of Hidden Faces has not revealed the final answer. Find both artefacts, preserve their Secret Inscriptions and do not lose the fragment open1-.
In the Heart of the Labyrinth, every tile you find will take its proper place, and the scattered phrases will form the complete Secret Code. Until then, the white masks will continue to watch which door you choose next.